


Crack!

by joyeusenoelle



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-29
Updated: 2014-01-29
Packaged: 2018-01-10 10:20:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1158489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joyeusenoelle/pseuds/joyeusenoelle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“All I’m sayin’ is, if he says “I wonder what this does,” the answer’s to run the hell the other way.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crack!

“Lift slowly,” the dwarf said. He watched from the rim of the shallow pit while Adarrah raised an old troll ceremonial mask from the dirt. “Now gently place it on the cloth. There you go,” he said, and smiled as she settled the mask onto the prep cloth. “And now—”

“Brush it off gently, and make sure I don’t damage the paint.” Adarrah smiled and pulled her boar-bristle brush from her pocket. “I’ve done the studying, Professor.”

The dwarf beamed. “You’re a natural, that’s what,” he said, settling back on his heels. “You’ve got the makings of a fine archaeologist.”

“Thank you, Professor Bronzebeard.” Adarrah blushed and smiled, but kept working, diligently cleaning the soil from the ancient mask. “This confirms that we’re looking at a ceremonial site, right?”

“Oh, aye,” Bronzebeard said. “I mean, the stones were a giveaway, but finding an actual mask — well, unless it’s a burial ground. But I’d be surprised to find that. These trolls were tomb-builders, not gravediggers.”

Adarrah lifted the mask gingerly to show the professor. “How does it look?”

“Ah, beautiful,” he replied. “Just a little on the inside—”

She glanced at it quickly and nodded. “I’ll get it, Professor.”

“As you should,” he said. He stood and stretched his legs. “D’you want to keep working here, or move to one of the other sites?”

“I’d like to keep focusing here, Professor, if that’s all right. Maybe next I’ll find a hex stick — or a petrified frog!”

He grinned. “One thing at a time, lass. Get the mask packed and stowed, and then we can start moving more earth—”

The sound that interrupted him almost made Adarrah think of a gunshot, and she whipped her head around, nearly dropping the mask in her startlement. As she and the professor watched in amazement, a boulder — no, a chunk of the overhanging cliff face, broken free of the surrounding rock — fell nearly a hundred feet and smashed into the ground about thirty feet away, obliterating the dig site that sat at the cliff’s base. Adarrah and the professor both covered their faces and turned away to avoid the blast of dust and debris flung at them from the impact, and the dwarf was knocked down by the shockwave.

“Sorry about that!” Harrison Jones, Bronzebeard’s assistant, jumped down from the fallen rock. “That’s one way to get down from an unexpected height.”

“Jones, what the blazes were you doing up there to begin with?” Bronzebeard got up and strode over to Jones, shouting some creative invective as Adarrah returned to the mask. It was miraculously undamaged — it had been in her body’s shadow when the wave hit — and she carefully packed it up and carried it over to the main camp, where an open box, packed with straw, waited for contents. 

The guard, a Lordaeron refuge named Mack, glanced up as she approached. “What’s the noise all about?”

“Jones doing what Jones does,” Adarrah muttered.

Mack nodded. “Figured.” He slung his rifle back over his shoulder. “More artifacts for the musem?”

“Yep.” Adarrah gently packed the mask into the box and made sure it was covered with straw and a folded linen cloth. “Troll ceremonial mask. Just upgraded the site from settlement to potential place of worship.”

“Those trolls’ll worship anywhere they can stick a torch,” Mack said.

“Yeah, well, the professor thinks this one might be special, so I’m going to take a closer look.”

“Just be careful,” the guard said, leaning back in his chair. “Third dig I’ve been on with Bronzebeard’s crew. Never seen anyone quite so cavalier about the work as Jones. You’d think he’d be off killin’ orcs instead of knockin’ perfectly good cliffs off their mountains.”

“I’ll do my best. Only open skies above me.” She winked.

“All I’m sayin’ is, if he says “I wonder what this does,” the answer’s to run the hell the other way.”

Adarrah laughed. “You got it. Anything you want me to tell the professor?”

“Nah,” Mack said. “Nice and quiet around here. Nothin’ but birds and frogs. You lot keep digging as long as you like. I’ll be here.”

Adarrah nodded to the guard. “Enjoy yourself, Mack.”

“As always.” He tipped his hat back down over his eyes. Adarrah could swear she heard him snore as she headed back to the pit.


End file.
